A survey of individuals in US-based pharmaceutical industry HEOR departments: attitudes on policy topics

Abstract

We surveyed US-based leaders in health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) departments in drug and device companies to examine their views on the state of the field. We created a questionnaire that was emailed to 123 US-based senior HEOR professionals at 54 companies. Of the 123 recipients, 74 (60%) completed the survey. Most respondents (92%) expected their company’s HEOR use to increase, and 80% reported that their organization’s senior management viewed HEOR work as critical. Approximately 62% agreed that Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) dossiers are useful to US health plans, and 55% stated that Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act (FDAMA) Section 114 is useful. Approximately 49% believed the US government should use cost-effectiveness analysis in coverage and reimbursement decisions, but only 31% expected this to occur within 3 years. The findings suggest strong support for the function at senior management levels and optimism about the field.

Keywords::

• attitudes
• outcomes research
• pharmacoeconomics
• policy
• USA

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Paige Lin for comments on earlier versions of the manuscript, and to Joshua T Cohen, Lou Garrison, Tom Hughes, Joseph Menzin and Amy Stern for comments on early iterations of the survey questionnaire.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This study was funded by internal resources at the authors’ academic center. PJ Neumann has consulted with Boston Health Economics and has served on one-time advisory boards on health economic topics for Cubist, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, MedImmune, Medtronic, Merck, Novartis, NovoNordisk, Pfizer, Sanofi and Takeda. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Key issues

• • To our knowledge, this is the largest survey of its kind to explore the views of senior representatives of industry HEOR departments.

• • The findings suggest optimism about the field and a perception among HEOR leaders that there is a strong support for the function at senior management levels within drug and device companies. Policy tools such as the AMCP Format and FDAMA Section 114 are perceived as useful, but efforts to improve their effectiveness might be warranted.

• • There appears to be a split in views among respondents on the idea of the US government playing a larger role in judging the cost-effectiveness of interventions. Relatively few respondents believe the US government will begin using cost-effectiveness analysis explicitly in the next 3 years.